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Thursday, 30 May 2013

IELTS Free University Education Essay

The issue of free university education is an essay topic that comes up in the IELTS test.
This essay therefore provides you with some of the key arguments about this topic.

The essay is an agree / disagreeessay, which means you are given one opinion and then asked if you agree with it or not.
So remember to make it clear in your essay which side you are on.
Of course you don't have to firmly come down on one side - you could
partly agree if there are some aspects of the arguments you agree with
but some parts you disagree with.
In this essay, the writer believes free university education is the
best policy, so s/he agrees with the opinion. This is made clear in the
conclusion (though you can put your opinion in the introduction as well
if you wish).
The writer presents both sides of the argument. This
is a good idea as you may find it more difficult to come up with a lot
of ideas for one side of an argument. It also shows you are able to see
both sides of the argument - a good academic skill.

Example Essay 20 - Free University Education Essay

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Present a written argument to an educated reader with no specialist knowledge of the following topic.

University education should be free to everyone, regardless of income. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.
You should write at least 250 words.

Model Answer
Over recent years, more and more people have been attending
university and arguments have persisted as to whether students should
pay for this privilege not. Although there are convincing arguments on
both sides, I strongly believe that it should be free.

One argument put forward in favour of charging students is that
education is becoming more expensive to fund as universities grow in
size. Consequently, making students pay may maintain standards and
ensure the quality of the teaching. In addition, it is argued that
most students benefit from university in terms of higher paid jobs, so
it is fair that they pay for at least some of the cost, especially
given that the majority of students attending university are from the
middle classes. Last but not least, in many countries, there is a
shortage of people to do manual jobs such as plumbing and carpentry, so
making university more expensive may encourage people to take up these
jobs.

However, there are a number of arguments in favour of making
university education free for all. Firstly, it will encourage more
people to attend and this will benefit society. This is because it will
lead to a more productive and educated workforce. Research has
generally shown that those countries that have a better educated
population via university have higher levels of innovation and
productivity. In addition, there is the issue of equality of
opportunity. If all students are required to pay, those on a low income
may be dissuaded from attending, thus making it unfair. The reason for
this is that they will likely not be able to secure financial support
from their family so they will be concerned about the debts they will
incur in the future.

In conclusion, I am of opinion that all education should remain
equally available to all regardless of income. This is not only fair,
but will also ensure that countries can prosper and develop into the
future with a well-educated workforce.326 Words